Making of a Queen

SHADOW ON THE CROWN                 By: Patricia Bracewell                        4 Stars

When I started this book, I was determined that it would get a 5 star rating. I was immediately sucked in and loved some of the imagery being portrayed. On the first page it mentions how a raging snow storm completed with a light snow over the land like a benediction. The story is peppered with these figurative sentences.

Overall, I thought the author did a great job telling the story from 4 different points of view. While it does change the views frequently within the chapters, the story is told in third person, making it an easy transition from character to character.

As a quick run-down of the story line: Emma is the young sister of a Duke in Normandy, France. She is sent across the Narrow Sea to marry the Anglo-Saxon king of England. The king’s wife just passed away during childbirth of their 11^th child. His previous wife was never crowned queen and Emma’s duke brother made sure that naming her as queen worked to his advantage. The duke was to use the union as a reason to help stop the Danish raids across England. Unfortunately, the duke does little to help protect Emma and the English king finds the arrangement unsatisfactory. The storyline follows Emma, the king, the king’s eldest son (who is considered the heir), and another girl who covets Emma’s spot as queen.

Part of the reason I was interested in this book deals with the fact that it relates to areas my ancestors came from. I do not know where my ancestors were during the time of the book, around 1000 A.D., but there is a possibility of them dealing with these issues. The author appears to quote directly from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, however, these events are not elaborated on and Emma’s life at this time was not the subject of the history she had recorded. The author is kind enough to let us know the difference between history and fiction.

Back to the rating of the book, while the storyline kept me hooked, there were things that I really did not like to read. As we understand for that time period, women are not respected or treated well. There are many times when they are beaten and abused. For a majority of these instances the book does not go into great detail, it is mainly just mentioned, but it is still hard to read, especially when more detail is given. Overall, the sexual side of the characters could have been downplayed, even if the main purpose of the queen (and mistresses) is to provide an heir.

When you get to the end of the book you learn that it is a trilogy. I used to love a trilogy, sometimes I still do, but it just seems now that it is a marketing scheme to sell more books. While understandable, I am getting annoyed with the trend and prefer stand-alone novels. I might be intrigued enough to read the rest of the trilogy if time allows in the future.